Simpson of Kabul (The Guardian): "It is common for those far from battle zones to speculate that war correspondents must possess death wishes; the difference with Simpson is that this is the view of other war correspondents. 'He has a compulsive thing about him that you sense he can't help,' says one. 'I think he had a lot of guilt over problems in his personal life, and he does have a death wish, I think,' says another. 'It seems to me to be an almost suicidal curiosity,' says Allan Little, who reported on the Gulf war from Baghdad with Simpson." There's also an absolutely priceless cartoon by The Guardian's Steve Bell depicting John Simpson's liberation of Kabul.

Posted 14:38 UTC

'BBC liberated Kabul' says Simpson (The Guardian): "The BBC's John Simpson claimed the glory for the Northern Alliance's rout of the Taliban today in Kabul when he joined other BBC staff in the Afghan capital. Simpson told Sue MacGregor on the BBC's Today programme: 'It was only BBC people who liberated this city. We got in ahead of Northern Alliance troops. But his remarks are likely to irritate his colleagues, William Reeve and Rageh Omar, both of whom arrived in the Afghan capital last week."

Posted 16:49 UTC

Shortwave listening is back (Mike Wendland, Detroit Free Press): "Since Sept. 11, Grundig, the German radio company that is the market leader in shortwave radio sales, says its U.S. business has increased by 500 percent. 'It started right after the terror attacks,' says John Smith, director of operations for Grundig's U.S. operations. 'The first week, our orders went up 100 percent, then 200 percent. Lately, it's averaging 500 percent. It shows no signs of slowing down.'" (Thanks Maryanne Kehoe for the heads-up on swprograms.)

Posted 13:56 UTC

Bill Cooper, crackpot host of "The Hour of the Time" on WBCQ, was shot and killed by police officers in the course of an attempted arrest. One of the arresting deputies was shot twice in the head.

Posted 22:52 UTC

First glimpse inside a sunspot (BBC News): "By analysing sound waves travelling inside the Sun, a US team of scientists has produced the first detailed image of what goes on inside a sunspot."

Posted 22:45 UTC